Total Guide to Reviewing Your Website

How long have you had your website? Possibly several years if you were one of those early birds who immediately spotted the value of the internet as a business tool.

Next question: how long is it since you properly reviewed it? If your website has changed very little in those years then it is high time to give it an overhaul.

Websites have evolved enormously not only in their design but also in their content. The content – those words which will hook your site visitor and get them to buy – is so important.

So if it’s been a while since you had a proper look at your site, why not spend some time now? Before you start, try to put yourself in the shoes of the visitor, that person you want to make your customer. Look at your site from their point of view.

As a potential customer, what you are looking for is:

· Clear, punchy information about the product or service

· Detail about how the product/service can solve your problems

· What the USP is – why it differs from the competition

· How to get hold of the product.

Less interesting to your potential customer (to be frank, often positively dull and irrelevant) is your CV, the story of your company, the name of your dog and your favourite band!

What you don’t want is waffle. This information has to be short, punchy and to the point or the reader will switch off – or click away.

There is an art to writing copy for a website, and here are some key points:

· Make it short

· Make the sentences short

· Make the paragraphs short (sense a theme here?)

· Don’t write so much copy that the reader has to scroll down too far

· Keep your words basic: why write ‘buy’ instead of ‘purchase’? Why not say ‘answer’ instead of ‘solution’ (in fact ‘solution’ is a pet hate – ever heard of Sainsbury’s talking about ‘carbohydrate solutions’, when they mean bread, potatoes and pasta?)

· Ask the reader questions: Do you? Are you? Have you? These will help to engage the reader

· Get rid of unnecessary words

· Remember to put a call to action on each page inviting the reader to contact you, to click for more information, to get an answer to a question.

If your website fits in with all the above then you are doing a great job. If you look at it and think there is room for improvement, get on and make the changes. Your website is like a shop window – it needs re-dressing from time to time to stop it looking tired.

Jo Smyth - Word Worker